Disclaimer: I do not own The Big Bang Theory and no profit is being made from this story. Note that I still don't have a beta reader and if anyone wants the job than please contact me.
Sheldon was still not on speaking terms with Leonard so he got a ride home that evening from Raj. On the way to pick up Stuart, since Raj had begged to bring him to pizza night, Sheldon tried to play car games with Raj. Unfortunately for Sheldon, Raj just wanted to listen to Katy Perry's latest CD. Sheldon had never heard of Katy Perry before and he was not very impressed. Raj, however, was singing along as he drove, leaving Sheldon to his thoughts.
Sheldon started thinking about his list of things to think about that he had made in his mind earlier that day. After lunch, he had made reservations online for both airfare and a hotel room. He hoped that Penny wouldn't mind sharing a room with him because The Grand Hôtel, where all of the Nobel Prize laureates stayed, was quite expensive and he couldn't afford to get her a separate room. Well, he supposed that technically he could afford it, but part of him didn't want her to sleep in different room so he justified it by telling himself that paying for two rooms in a five star hotel for a week was ridiculous.
He had also decided that he would dress up as the eleventh doctor from Doctor Who for Halloween.While the eleventh doctor was not his favorite, it seemed that getting the right clothes for his costume would be the easiest with this particular doctor. He chose not to go with a superhero costume because he wanted to do something just a little bit unpredicted.
As for Penny's theory about Raj, well that was now confirmed. Sheldon glanced over at Raj and saw that he was now beaming. Curiosity got the better of Sheldonso he asked Raj "Why are you so happy?"
"Because Stuart is going to be joining us for pizza night," Raj said.
"Yes, I am aware of that. However, we see Stuart quite frequently so why does Stuart's presence at pizza night affect your mood?" asked Sheldon curiously.
"Because being around him makes me happy," answered Raj. "When I'm with him, I feel a sense of completeness. He makes me want to be a better person. I don't know, maybe I'm in love."
What Raj said resonated with Sheldon. He had the startling realization that he experienced those same feelings about Penny. If Raj thought he was in love with Stuart because of those feelings than was he in love with Penny? This was not good. He could not be in love with Penny. Sure Penny was his friend. In fact, Penny was possibly his best friend, although he would never tell Leonard that. If he were to date Penny, that would almost certainly ruin their friendship. It was a moot point, though, because there was no way that Penny would ever be interested in him.
When Sheldon, Raj, and Stuart reached the landing in front of Sheldon's apartment, Sheldon unlocked the door and let Raj and Stuart in first. He was just about to enter the apartment himself when Penny came out of her apartment. Penny was not dressed for work so Sheldon wondered where she could be headed, especially since he knew that she was well aware that it was pizza night.
Sheldon quickly closed the door before asking "Penny, where are you going?"
"I thought that maybe I would go out dancing," responded Penny.
"You can't go out dancing," Sheldon said. "It's pizza night."
"Oh, thanks sweetie. That's very nice of you to want me to come over for pizza. The thing is, I don't want to deal with Leonard."
"If by 'deal with Leonard,' you mean have a confrontation with him, you need not worry. I will not let Leonard bother you," Sheldon said with more conviction than he felt.
"Thanks Sheldon, but I'd really not be there if there's going to be a scene."
"Well at least come in for a little while. Leonard's not home yet and there's something that I want you to see."
"Wait, if Leonard's not home, how did you get home?" asked Penny sounding a little confused.
"Raj gave me a ride," answered Sheldon as he opened the door.
Sheldon nearly bumped into Penny because she was standing just a little bit inside the door, staring at the couch. It was obvious as to why because Stuart was seated on the right couch cushion and Raj was in the middle. Raj's armed was draped around Stuart. Sheldon felt that Penny was owed some form of explanation so he whispered to her "Raj informed me and Howard at lunch that he is a homosexual. Your theory was correct."
Sheldon would have gone on but at that point Stuart chose to speak up. "Uh, hey Penny," he said sounding uncomfortable. "This isn't what it looks like."
"Yes it is," interrupted Raj, "this is exactly what it looks like."
"Okay, it is what it looks like," said Stuart.
Sheldon closed the door and moved around Penny to put his coat and bag away. Penny walked into the kitchen and started looking through the refrigerator while Sheldon took his computer out and put it down on his computer desk before heading over toward the couch. Sheldon had just sat down on his spot when Leonard came in.
Leonard had just closed the door when Sheldon heard him say "What on Earth?"
"Leonard, I have something to tell you..." mumbled Raj.
"Raj is gay," said Penny with a little bit of glee in her voice as she closed the refrigerator door with a beer in her hand.
"Penny, what are you doing here?" Leonard asked loudly, Raj and Stuart clearly momentarily forgotten.
"Sheldon invited me over for pizza night."
Sheldon remembered his promise to Penny so before either Leonard or Penny could say another word, Sheldon said "Yes I did. Leonard, be nice to my guest."
"I'm glad you've decided to speak to me again. By the way, Sheldon, your guest is my ex-girlfriend." Leonard snapped back in response.
"Yes," acknowledged Sheldon, "I am aware of that. What's your point?"
"Bros before hos," said Leonard.
"Leonard, I take offense to that. Penny is not a 'ho,'" said Sheldon making air quotes. "Penny is an intelligent lady who has not had promiscuous sexual relations in over two years!"
"That's not what I mean!" snapped Leonard.
"Oh, I knew what you meant. Howard explained it to me some years ago. I wasn't finished."
"I'm going to get going," said Penny.
"No! I mean, Penny, please wait."
"I'll give you two minutes," said Penny.
"Leonard, if you were such a believer in 'bros before hos' than you would not have started eating lunch with Amy instead me, Howard, and Raj. Amy is my ex-girlfriend."
At that point, Howard and Bernadette walked in. "Hey guys," said Howard in greeting.
"Hey," said Stuart.
"Hi, Howard. Hello, Bernadette," said Raj.
"Hey," said Penny.
Both Sheldon and Leonard ignored both of them.
"That's different," said Leonard.
"How so?" Sheldon asked, thinking of the hypocrisy of Leonard.
"What's going on?" asked Bernadette as she moved over to stand next to Penny.
"Raj is gay and Sheldon and Leonard are talking about bros before hos," Penny quickly summarized.
"It's different," answered Leonard, "because you don't have feelings!"
Sheldon felt a surge of anger but before he could say or do anything, Penny stepped in front of Leonard and said "You take that back! Of course Sheldon has feelings! He just has trouble expressing them! Sheldon is actually very sweet!"
"Uh, guys?" said Stuart, who was ignored.
"Sheldon? Sweet?" Leonard snorted.
"Yes Sheldon is sweet! He took care of me when I dislocated my shoulder in the shower! He likes people to think he's some kind of robot, but deep down he really does have feelings!"
Sheldon felt his heart warm when he heard Penny's words. He decided that he should probably remind him that he was still there so he said "Thank you, Penny!"
"You're welcome, sweetie. Right now I would rather date you than anyone else in this room," said Penny while glaring at Leonard. Sheldon felt his heart skip a beat and thought briefly about getting it examined.
"What about me?" asked Raj.
"Raj, you're gay," stated Howard. "Why would Penny want to date you?"
"Fine," snapped Leonard. "You can speak to Penny all you want. But I'm inviting Amy over for pizza night next week!"
"That won't work, Leonard. How could you forget that Thursday of next week is Halloween?" asked Sheldon before he turned to Penny and said, "Penny, would you like to go to a Halloween party at Stuart's store with me?"
"I'd love too," said Penny. Sheldon's heart skipped another beat at Penny's words as he saw her send another glare at Leonard.